Obesity research confirms long-term weight loss almost impossible

[Alberta_Beef]

I think the mods should start giving out warnings and banning people for saying people are fat. It's ridiculous that comments like this are acceptable

Originally Posted by SebC

Isn't it kind of self-evident that it's hard for fat people to lose weight? If it was easy, why would so many choose to stay fat?

Nice backhanded way of "defending" overweight people.

[nfotiu]

I'll share my store since I guess what I've done is rarer than I thought.

I'm six feet, and my weight slowly crept up over the years to a high of 230 lbs. I was always active, went to the gym 4-5 days a week, played hockey and golfed. I think one of my biggest causes of weight gain was that the more I worked out, and more I did, the more I ate. I was always trying to push myself in the gym to lift more, or go harder or longer on the cardio machines but I always accompanied that with eating more, and slowly but surely that put on the pounds, and I would say it was a lot more flab than muscle. I didn't own a scale, so I was always kind of taken aback when I realized that I was 5-10 lbs heavier than I was last time I weighed.

I think I decided I didn't like how I looked any more. I bought a scale, and weighed myself every morning. The first thing I did was stop drinking any soda, diet soda, or juice. Just water, seltzer (and beer and coffee). That started me on the track of losing weight. I lost 3-4 bounds that first year. The next thing I did was ditched the cardio machines for running (outside and on the treadmill) and in the process took on running as a bit of a hobby. Started doing different and longer distances, always trying to increase my times and distances and being very conscious not to increase my calories while I increased my running. I'd say that is one of the most challenging things I had to change my mindset on.

One of my vices was a big bowl of ice cream before bed every night, that I seemed to crave like crack. I broke myself out of that habit, and that was probably one of the tougher things I did. But other than that I didn't really change my lifestyle much. Probably started just eating about 5% less than I was. Always kind of thinking of what one junkie thing I could do without that day.

I do always still weigh myself every morning. I am a numbers guy, and to me I liked to see which direction I was heading in. If I noticed the weight start to creep up again, I'd make adjustments to what I was eating.

I think the biggest success factor for myself was losing weight slowly but steady. I went from 230 to 190 over a period of about 10 years, and I don't think I every lost more than 5 pounds in a year. But I think I lost at least 3 pounds every year. I never had any kind of weight loss goal in mind except to make sure I was trending lower instead of higher.

[Sample00]

I can pretty much tell you that its about lifestyle change.

Its not about dieting. Its about making a conscious decision to change the way you approach life and what it takes to sustain yourself.

It took me a long time to figure out that sitting on a couch, eating a bag of potato chips with dip wasnt going to cause me to gain weight. Surprise!! and I hit 285lbs. But that still didnt do it.

Then came the day when I was asked to host an awards ceremony. That meant buying a new suit, shirt, shoes etc. Having to go to King Richards mens wear to buy said clothes. It was embarrassing and leaving the store, I turned to my wife and said, never again will I go into that store.

Its like alcoholism or smoking. You have to decide that you want to change the way you live your life. And I did.

Its not easy. It takes time, dedication and the willingness to go on when you would rather do something completely different. It takes time to retrain your mind.

I had someone tell me about Livestrong and the calorie counter. I used that. Well even that didnt work at first. Oh sure, the tracker told me that I was allowed 1750 calories a day. And I tracked. The first little while I was done my calories for the day at 3:00PM and I still had dinner to go. Oh Oh! so, in order for me to buy back calories, I had to......exercise. And thats when things changed.

I bought a gym membership and went. I got to the gym and didnt have a clue of what to do. Frustrated I went home. I stood in front of my wife literally shaking with frustration. Tears in my eyes, I wanted to lose weight but I didnt know what to do at the gym. My wife being the smart person that she is, booked me an appointment with a trainer who was going to show me how all the equipment worked. So I went back on the day of my appt.

I got there and the trainer took me through all the appartatus and showed me how everything worked. My hour was up and I told her that i had to leave as my son had a hockey game shortly. She looked at me and said, " what team does your son play for?" I told her it was the Bantam team. She then advised me that my son didnt play til 2:30Pm and it was only 11:00AM. I had plenty of time to make the game and still get another hours work out in. I got called out! In a big way and it was a defining moment in my lifestyle change. I stayed and worked out for another hour with all my new found knowledge of exercise equipment.

The next day, I went back. Sore and tired but I went back. And again the following day, and the next and so on.

I started to change what I ate. No more chips and pop. I found that I could eat more of other foods and take in less calories. I budgeted better and then slowly I figured out that I could eat, feel less hungry and not even take in my days worth of calories. And I worked out. Harder each time, taking HIIT classes and getting stronger.

It took 9 months but I dropped almost 100lbs. That was 5 years ago. I dont work out quite as hard anymore but I still exercise and I still watch what I eat. I'm 195lbs and I'm comfortable with my weight. I also 50 years old and although my mind says, ya, you can do that. sometimes my body says, screw you!

I'm never going back..EVER! My mind now wont let me. I will eat right, exercise and take good care of myself cause i want to live a long, happy life. See my kids have kids and have fun with them. NEVER GOING BACK!!

oh, and did I mention, the day I started to work out, I also quit smoking on that same day.

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by bcsoda

Whether you believe that long-term weight-loss is possible or not, comments like these are fat-shaming, which is a form of bullying. You don't have to agree with the research, but that doesn't give you an excuse to be a bully.

It doesn't not give him the right to be a bully. It does give him the right to express his opinion just like you have the right to express yours.

I blows me away what people call bullying these days. Basically if you don't agree with what I believe and express it, you are a bully. "Fat shaming"...way to transfer or deflect the blame for your situation on someone else.

[Thor]

Guys its simple, get on a reality weight loss TV show, DUH.

For me its changing thought patterns, neuro-plasticity. This all starts with your mind, the diet and exercise won't stick if you don't deal with bad habbit patterns, emotional ties to food, and whatever else is leading to your health issues.

Diets work, short term, but obviously you have to find sensible smart ways of living that work with your body. For me sugar is my #1 enemy with carbs being a close second.

I cut out all extra sugars, even rarely eat fruits, live on a low carb diet with one night a week of carb loading which suits my lifestyle perfectly and I feel great with high fat&high protein diet, never hungry, satiated, and no cravings.

Sugar is a big trigger for me, and honestly I think for most people. Once you cut it out, you'll notice things like less headaches (rare for me now), even energy levels throughout the day, insulin doesn't spike up and down anymore, and I think that the triggers to eat unhealthy are often tied into sweet things.

Exercise is 20% of it, diet 20% and your mind 60%. All VERY important but people who have never been significantly overweight, especially long term always quote the 80% diet 20% exercise. Every trainer I know has never had a weight problem, most programs they offer never deal with brain thoughts and patterns, emotional ties to food and all the important stuff you HAVE to deal with in order to sustain long term weight loss.

I'm nearing year one of this adventure and I am only too well aware that even though 100 pounds are gone, the tough part lies ahead, even though this show was crazy tough, now I'm on my own and its all up to me to keep this going, well with a little help from trainers, friends and family

[Thor]

Originally Posted by rotten42

It doesn't not give him the right to be a bully. It does give him the right to express his opinion just like you have the right to express yours.

I blows me away what people call bullying these days. Basically if you don't agree with what I believe and express it, you are a bully. "Fat shaming"...way to transfer or deflect the blame for your situation on someone else.

I get in debates all the time now with people when we discuss health issues. The #1 problem is people who have never had serious weight issues telling people who have how they should do it and often making light of how simple it really is.

Its akin to a person who has no problems with alcohol walking into an AA meeting an lecturing those people on how to sober up, and making light of how easy it is.

Fat shaming is so common people barely notice it, but its very pervasive in society and the worst is how much obese people are repeatedly told things like "its not rocket science, diet and exercise.." It belittles the effort and difficulty and treats it as these people are just lazy and have no willpower. Imagine doing that to an alcoholic, people would have more empathy with people struggling with addictions, yet when it comes to food healthy people are judging harshly those who are not as fortunate.

You have no idea what they went through to get to that point, was it emotional reasons, trauma, tragedy, unhealthy childhood upbringing, etc... The world needs to be kind, understanding, not judgmental and harsh as is par for the course when these types of conversation happen.

Mind you CP is much much better than the vast majority of online discussion, way too many good people here to let jerks berate and belittle those struggling with their weight.

[V]

Is obesity now considered a disease like alcoholism now? Honest question, they've been put on a parallel plane in this thread a couple of times.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Thor

Guys its simple, get on a reality weight loss TV show, DUH.

For me its changing thought patterns, neuro-plasticity. This all starts with your mind, the diet and exercise won't stick if you don't deal with bad habbit patterns, emotional ties to food, and whatever else is leading to your health issues.

Diets work, short term, but obviously you have to find sensible smart ways of living that work with your body. For me sugar is my #1 enemy with carbs being a close second.

I cut out all extra sugars, even rarely eat fruits, live on a low carb diet with one night a week of carb loading which suits my lifestyle perfectly and I feel great with high fat&high protein diet, never hungry, satiated, and no cravings.

Sugar is a big trigger for me, and honestly I think for most people. Once you cut it out, you'll notice things like less headaches (rare for me now), even energy levels throughout the day, insulin doesn't spike up and down anymore, and I think that the triggers to eat unhealthy are often tied into sweet things.

Exercise is 20% of it, diet 20% and your mind 60%. All VERY important but people who have never been significantly overweight, especially long term always quote the 80% diet 20% exercise. Every trainer I know has never had a weight problem, most programs they offer never deal with brain thoughts and patterns, emotional ties to food and all the important stuff you HAVE to deal with in order to sustain long term weight loss.

I'm nearing year one of this adventure and I am only too well aware that even though 100 pounds are gone, the tough part lies ahead, even though this show was crazy tough, now I'm on my own and its all up to me to keep this going, well with a little help from trainers, friends and family

I think the genetic component to weight gain is really ignored and unfairly discounted by people who have never had weight issues.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate;47920392) You need to have hope that you can get healthier. Some people just don't think that it is possible. That they are too far gone. That they have done so much damage to their body that they can't fix it.[B

I spent almost two decades of my life in this phase. I had not seen anyone in my entire life that had been 350 pounds become a healthy, athletic person.[/B] But it is EVEN HARDER for people that have tried and failed before. And with each failed attempt, it gets even harder to try again.
."

46 year old male 6 foot 1
Was 340 pounds now 200 and I trail run 5-10km (Nose Hill Park) a day regardless if it is -40C or plus 30. Lift weights 3-5 times a week.
From a 48 pant to a 33. I only have a 4 pack of abs (cant get the other two as I have some left over skin that hasn't snapped back enough.
Had Sleep Apnea and slept with a CPAP machine and now no longer need it.
Have actually stood beside friends who did not recognize me until I spoke and it has left them speechless for a few seconds.
No gimmicks. no trainer, just bought a bench and some dumbells and follow the pictures on the box.
Completely changed my lifestyle on a new years day. Control my weight in the kitchen and my body at my home gym.

My fitness start was easy. I went to Nosehill park on a new years day stood at the bottom of the hill and started to walk up it in my steel toe boots. Had to stop 3 times for air. Got to top walked back down and went home. Day two was get to the top and only stop twice, day three stop once.
Once I got to the top I added about a hundred yards everyday.
Made sure I got in the habit of swinging my arms till one day a strong wind was behind me and I started to run. I only ran about 30 yards and I was in my winter boots too. It was the most amazing feeling as I thought I would never run again. I actually started to cry while I was doing it. It was my "Drago!!!" moment.

If you are in Calgary feel free to reach out.

[Coach]

I'd like to comment on this just because my coworkers and I were kind of touching on the topic yesterday.

A few years ago I dropped 50 lbs from 225 to 175. I'm 6ft tall and have no idea whether or not I would have been considered "obese" but I was definitely overweight and out of shape. I was excersising every weekday (although nothing too strenuous; 30 min on bike and chin ups/pushups/situps) as well as was very concious of my eating habits, which was definitely the hardest change.

After I got to where I wanted to be, I continued my working out and with the healthy eating for about a year or so afterwards and even took it further to boxing training to build myself a bit. But about the same time I started boxing, I started to realize that during my weight loss I had seemingly jumpstarted my metabolism and bad food wasn't affecting me as much as it was before. So I started to not worry about it so much and also started to make money following graduating from university and so had more options for eating when I was too lazy to make my own meal.

Over the last 12 months i've gained back about 20 lbs. Partly I blame my job for making me sit for 9-10 hours a day, and then my outside volunteer activites that kept me so busy some nights I would be on my way home at 9pm without having eaten since breakfast and McDonalds or the like seemed like the best option. Even after I realized I was putting on weight again I was having a tough time halting the glutony. I have just recently (in the last few weeks) started to make a concious effort to eat healthy once again, but it is still difficult as I find myself craving ice cream and things like that after dinner all the time, or big fatty muffins in the morning. I have never really looked much into the definition of obesity and where the line is between disease and lack of self control. Is the lack of self control THE disease? Is it an addiction to food? Are people that are obese also more suceptible to other "controllable" illnesses like alcoholism or cigarette/drug addicition?

[bcsoda]

Ok, in order for people to believe that weight-loss simply doesn't work long-term, we have to provide numerous studies stating that it doesn't, but even then no one will believe it. But in order for people to believe that weight-loss is possible long-term, all you have to do is provide a story about how you or a family member lost the weight and kept it off - so clearly everyone can do it.

I guess my question is - does anyone have anything other than anecdotal evidence (so what I'm looking for is scientific research)that shows a diet/lifestyle change/whatever you want to call it, that has been proven to work in the long-term (key point being, in the long-term)?

You'd think that would be easy enough to find given the "war on obesity", but I haven't yet.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by V

Is obesity now considered a disease like alcoholism now? Honest question, they've been put on a parallel plane in this thread a couple of times.

For some people most definitively. Its complex because you can't quit food, but brain scans certainly show addictive responses to certain foods for certain people, its never the same but commonalities exist. In face the food industry has for a long time known what is the ideal mix of sugar, carbs, fats, and salt to make those triggers light up, which for most people is not a problem but a significant portion of people this is hugely problematic.

Unlike AA which you can just quit, which is no small task, food is something you have to live with. Overeaters Anonymous shares a lot of similarities to AA, and I think its a better approach than yo yo dieting, at least they try to deal with the emotional side of this problem which is honestly for a great majority the biggest obstacle.

But make no mistake, such as porn addiction is now a real thing, the commonalities are whats happening in your brain, the reward centers and how your body responds to stimuli. Cocaine and sugar for example share the same responses, so do many types of food, and lets not forget much of our food supply is engineered a very specific way to sell more product, the drug dealers of the modern age are our food industry which seeks to make food hyper stimulating and create a craving to eat their food again, great business sense, horrible outcomes.

What is really sad is we've been so dead wrong about what to eat for so long, Kiefer a astro physicist bodybuilder has been on the leading edge of new science suggesting our approach to diet has been so dead wrong for so long that its going to take a decade or more to undue that damage.

[Wood]

I wasn't attempting to "fat shame" with my comment. I fully understand how difficult it is to lose the weight and keep it off, I'm not making light of any efforts anyone here has made. I'm not surprised that only 5% are successful (if that numbers even accurate) because it's a lot easier to be overweight than it is to be in good shape. Much harder to be overweight and try and lose it all successfully

I guarantee lots of people use stats like this as an excuse, not saying that to fat shame, it's just the truth. For myself I see that as motivation though because that's a chance for myself to prove that it very possible

Both my mom and my sister were overweight, and seeing them both completely change their lifestyles and get in great shape, and keep it off, is great to see. They both knew it was going to be extremely hard but it's absolutely possible. I just really don't like how this article states that it's "almost impossible". My mom and sister being in poor shape when I was younger is the reason I decided to make sure I stay in shape

When I met my GF she decided she wanted to get in much better shape, and I've watched her everyday for the last 4 years do a complete 180 in her eating habits, she comes home everyday after work and works out, and she is in unreal shape now. It was the hardest thing she's ever had to do, and the ups and downs can be discouraging, but sticking to it is what made it work. I am 100% positive she will never put that weight back on

So yeah I'm not fat shaming. From my own personal experience and from seeing those closest to me be successful at doing what this article makes seem impossible, I just see it more as motivation. But I know that it's going to be used more of as an excuse in general. Not by the people who make the effort to make a change, but by the people who don't try and are content being in poor shape and use this as a reason why not to make the effort

Everyone's situation is different, all I know about this topic is what I've learned from my own life. I apologize if I am misinformed or inconsiderate to anyones personal situation

[V]

Originally Posted by Thor

For some people most definitively. Its complex because you can't quit food, but brain scans certainly show addictive responses to certain foods for certain people, its never the same but commonalities exist.

Smoking is addictive too, but it's not considered a disease.

My opinion only, but if obesity isn't actually scientifically classified as a disease it seems more apropos to compare it to smoking than alcoholism.

[V]

Maybe it's in the article, but what classifies as overweight? I'm in the best shape I will probably ever be in for the rest of my life (with little to no muscle mass), and I'm considered overweight on the BMI, so I would agree that 5% or less would be able to escape that overweight or obese band once they're in it.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by V

Smoking is addictive too, but it's not considered a disease.

My opinion only, but if obesity isn't actually scientifically classified as a disease it seems more apropos to compare it to smoking than alcoholism.

Yeah honestly the definition does not keep me up at night, but alcoholism and smoking are addictions, triggers are the same, results are different since its way easier to live with smoking. Plenty consider nicotine addiction a disease, but honestly does it really matter, obesity is an epidemic in major parts of the world and only getting worse.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by V

Maybe it's in the article, but what classifies as overweight? I'm in the best shape I will probably ever be in for the rest of my life (with little to no muscle mass), and I'm considered overweight on the BMI, so I would agree that 5% or less would be able to escape that overweight or obese band once they're in it.

BMI is terrible, mind you its a gauge that works for many but a significant number its utterly useless. Healthy and unhealthy are better markers, there are many people 20 pounds "overweight" that are much healthier than someone who is skinny.

But in our society if you put a skinny person next to someone with a belly its immediately assumed one is healthy and the other is unhealthy, which is quite often wrong.

[V]

Well yeah, it does matter, because when you state that losing weight is like quitting alcohol it's a heluva lot more defeatist than saying it's like quitting smoking. It appears to be a bad parallel that only misinforms.

[photon]

Originally Posted by V

Smoking is addictive too, but it's not considered a disease.

My opinion only, but if obesity isn't actually scientifically classified as a disease it seems more apropos to compare it to smoking than alcoholism.

Smoking is addictive, but your body doesn't alter its own physiology (which includes hunger signals, metabolism, energy, mood, everything) to try and get you to keep smoking, or to get you to smoke every day after you've quit forever.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...ticle16370893/

EDIT: The American Medical Association classifies it as a disease.

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by V

Maybe it's in the article, but what classifies as overweight? I'm in the best shape I will probably ever be in for the rest of my life (with little to no muscle mass), and I'm considered overweight on the BMI, so I would agree that 5% or less would be able to escape that overweight or obese band once they're in it.

BMI has a ton of pitfalls such as the more muscular you are, the more likely it is to think you're overweight or if you don't have a ton of muscle mass, the more likely it is to think you're healthy.

If I enter my height (6'5), it thinks that 156 lbs is the low range of normal, and 210 lbs is the high range. If you've ever seen anyone at 6'5 with a decent amount of muscle, they're definitely going to be considered overweight based on BMI.